Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Riddles & Finns

So this weekend saw Hussyband off to the beach at Brighton to enjoy a summer long weekend. As is typical of Bank Holiday here in the Old Dart, it was crap weather. There was wind and there was rain. At one point we did get enough glorious sunshine for me to get my cleavage and arms burnt which was fantastic (on a side note: I am obviously drinking too much if I get my elbows burnt right?)

We had some marvelous feasts along the shore during our stay, and decided to finish off our visit to a little place in the Lanes that came highly recommended by the owner of our hotel.

Armed with a map, our first attempt at finding R&F on Saturday had been unsuccessful, but miracle of miracles we stumbled across it just in time for lunch on Sunday (and with enough time to cancel our booking at its sister restaurant down by the water Due South).

Now, having moved into our own place last weekend, the belt strings have had to be tightened, but thankfully I was hugely hungry as I could have run rampant on their menu.

Once seated we were presented with a bread basket complete with salted butter on a scallop shell, mackerel pate, aioli and fresh horseradish cream, and two types of bread both with gorgeous crusts.

We settled in for a starter shot - yes, a Bloody Mary Oyster Shot. It had just the right amount of oomph to clear the nostrils and the mind from the previous nights shenanigans. The oyster was perfect - meaty, sweet and salty. And while it was shuffling it's way down my happy gullet, all I could think of was our best man the day after the wedding, come tearing out onto the deck of our beach house after consuming the kick-start I kindly left by his bed, tears streaming from his eyes, begging that next time I "use a little less Tabasco please!". WIMP!

Hussyband went for the Pan fried tiger prawns cooked in garlic butterwith shallots, paprika & lime, which came with a gorgeous salad. He washed it all down with a taste fo home - Little Creatures Pale Ale.

I went for 6 oysters 3 ways...natural (dressed with lemon of course), a cold dressing of tomato, coriander, red onion and chilli, and a hot dressing of champagne foam. I washed my selection down with a glass of 2007 Muscadet de Sevre et Maine sur Lie, Brebionnier France which had a lovely citrus finish.

Natural - delicious, fresh, the aroma and taste of the sea filled my mouth and mind with memories.Tomato Salsa - good, couldn't taste the chilli (which was remedied by me adding Tabasco to my second one which made a world of difference.)Champagne Foam - WHOOOHOOO I now have a second favorite topping for oysters (refer PS below). It was rich, creamy and lush. I soaked up every visible dreg with the last of the brown bread and would have happily demolished another 6 just for the sauce (hell give me a mug of sauce and I probably would have been content!)

We really have been blessed with some awesome seafood in the last week. Now I just have to find a fishmonger close to home so I can start to try and duplicate some of these recipes!

PS: If you are wondering what my favorite oyster topping is, I would have to say Motoyaki, which are oysters topped with white onions finely sliced mushrooms and Japanese 'Kewpie' mayonnaise mixed with miso, then baked, and served topped with finely sliced green onions.

8 comments:

~Hello darling, had to pop by and save your blog address. Since I was here, decided to read about the Brighton weekend. I have loads of questions about the food: what was the mackerel pate like? I have very chance encounters with marckerel and not all good so I am always curious about other people's.And the bloody mary shot?I really like oysters, and I have only had it on naturel. Motoyaki topping made me curious too.

Hey babe! The mackerel pate surprised me - I was expecting a salty paste of bleah - ut itwa sjust fishy enough, with the right amount of salt and so not gag worthy at all.

Ahh bloody nary shots...they have to have the right mix of good oyster, decent vodka and a good kick of tabasco, and even better, fresh horseradish, or grated garlic and lots of lemon juice (or a combo thereof). I will make you some the first time you visit here - promise.

Ditto with Motoyaki - I had them in Hiroshima in October for the first time in an all you can eat place. Not only all you can eat, all you can drink as well. We had 3 hours to stuff ourselves until we were talking about opei with school boys and making them blush. Closest recipe I have found is http://oysterrecipies.blogspot.com/2009/02/fantastic-oyster-motoyaki-recipie.html

Cooked oysters are a great way for people who are not oysters fans to get used to them (for me it was Kilpatrick and Mornay versions).

Kisses (hell this is almost bloody blog length...can you hear my voice?)

Sounds like you have a great recipe for those bloody mary shots! They sound like the perfect breakfast... I mean appetizer... for a summer day! :) Mind sharing how you make them? Thanks! (ps - great meeting you this weekend!)

"no pets, no kids, no worries" - you crack me up!! Ditto the sunburnt elbows - as you say is the universe trying to TELL me something?!

It was lovely to meet you at Food Blogger Conect - hope that you found the presentations to be entertainign and useful. And even better to discover that you live in my neck of the woods! When all our respective domestic commitments calm down, let's plan a local foodie outing.

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Your Hostess

Married and living in West London, I was born in Australia and am currently embarking on an adventure with my best friend and lover - Hussyband. No kids, no pets, no worries - just have to focus on living a debauched and decadent lifestyle, whilst still spoiling our families and friends.